My name is Temi and I have been dyslexic for the better part of my life. As a growing child, I was smart, beautiful, well-spoken and quite knowledgeable but I never knew how to spell, read and write.

It was a big struggle for me passing through school and not been able to do what other kids seems to do with ease. I remember spelling class in primary school, I would get flogged eighteen strokes of the cane for failing eighteen words out of twenty and my classmates would sing “olodo rabata” to me on countless occasions.

For those who don’t know what dyslexia is, it is a learning disability characterized by difficulty in reading, spelling, and writing. There is another form of dyslexia known as dyscalculia which is difficulty in mathematics and anything having to do with numbers and calculations.

It is sad that in Nigeria, people don’t know of dyslexia. Most times when a child is struggling academically or is having any learning difficulty, parents, teachers and caregivers just assume that the child is been lazy or just plain dumb. They usually suggest extra tutoring as the solution to the problem.

But in reality, dyslexics are very intelligent people. Most grow up to be very successful in their various fields. People like Richard Branson, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs etc. are examples of successful people with dyslexia.

If you know a child who exhibit these characteristics listed below, the child might be suffering from dyslexia.
1. Appears bright but unable to read, spell and write at grade level.
2. Bad handwriting. Often confusing letters like bpd, vw, sz, has mirrored writing which is writing letters backwards.
3. Difficulty spelling words even after been thought over and over and failure to recognized rhymes in words like call and ball.
4. Difficulty in pronouncing and spelling words correctly and getting words in the right sequence. confusing saw for was, unclear for nuclear.
5. Lack of attention- often daydreaming and switching off in class.

These and more are some of the characterized that a dyslexic may exhibit but a screening test must be conducted before one can conclude that a child have dyslexia. This screening test must be done by a certified psychologist or a dyslexia expert. Proper intervention must be done to train and tutored the dyslexic child on how to read, write and spell and this is usually done by a specialist teacher.

In Nigeria the only place where this screening and special intervention can be gotten is in Dyslexia Nigeria (www.dyslexianigeria.com) you can check out the website to get more information and to make inquiries.

Remember, dyslexia cannot be outgrown unless the person is given the help they deserve.
Follow on Instagram @dyslexianigeria